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C-Falls downtown project gets board OK

| March 23, 2020 1:00 AM

The Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board last week unanimously approved a $15 million planned-unit development for a mixed-use condominium, health club, restaurant and commercial complex on Nucleus Avenue, though some members raised reservations about the development.

Developer Mick Ruis has proposed two new three-story structures on the block that has long been the home of open space, a few office buildings and the former Bank of Columbia Falls. Ruis proposes tearing down the old bank and building a building to the north that would face Fifth Street and another building to the south that would face Nucleus Avenue on 1.5 acres in the center of town.

The north building would house the health club, which includes a three-lane pool, a wrestling room/gym, a yoga room, a daycare, workout machines, a juice bar, and a locker room among other amenities. The second and third floors would have condos.

The south building would include a steakhouse restaurant, two commercial buildings and condos on the second and third floors. The two buildings combined would have 54 condos.

The planned unit development overlay is necessary for a couple of reasons. For one, the building would have a maximum height of 42-feet, 8-inches. City code in the business district has a maximum height of 35 feet.

Downtown zoning in Columbia Falls is CB-4, which doesn’t require any parking spots, but the complex will still have 81 of them, 47 of them will be under the buildings. Parking is a big issue with the board and the public.

Three members of the public lamented the loss of open space in the city center. On the height variance, board members were more comfortable with that, because the city now has a ladder fire truck and can fight a fire to that height.

A public hearing and vote is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 6 at City Hall.

— Hungry Horse News

Whitefish board approves school construction changes

The Whitefish School Board earlier this month approved a pair of changes to the construction of the new Muldown Elementary School.

The first is an amendment to the project’s guaranteed maximum price as the project transitions into the construction of a new maintenance building on the site of the current Muldown school, as well as the demolition and patch up of parts of that building.

Dow Powell, owner’s representative for the district, presented on the changes to the Whitefish School Board.

“This is the all-in bid price of that building for the steel so we can get the long lead items ordered,” he said.

The amendment comes out to $595,700, bringing the entire Muldown project budget to about $21.7 million. The district in 2017 was granted a voter-approved $26.5 million bond to build the new school.

The package for demolition and buttoning up of the current building is going out to bid currently.

Alongside the construction changes, the board also approved an updated $578,000 technology package for the new school building.

— Whitefish Pilot

Libby council mulls cell-phone ordinance

Libby City Council may soon consider whether to make using a mobile phone while driving an offense that potentially results in a traffic stop.

The proposal arose during a March 10 meeting of the council’s ordinance committee. Using an ordinance approved in nearby Whitefish as a reference point, the potential ban could target motorists spotted handling a mobile device while operating a motor vehicle.

The ordinance would not apply to emergency responders or passengers in a vehicle. The language also carves out exceptions for hands-free or Bluetooth-enabled devices and two-way radios used by professionals in the course of their work duties as well as licensed amateur radio operators.

Montana is without a statewide law restricting cell phone use while driving. It is the only state in the country without any such law.

Basically, a traffic infraction coupled with mobile phone use results in a careless driving charge. But mobile phone use without a driving infraction is not a chargeable offense.

The penalty for careless driving in Libby is $85. A motorist caught driving while using a mobile device faces a $100 fine in Whitefish.

— The Western News